This old House

“It looks like my house will soon belong to someone else:) Theres an old fixer-upper Ican buy for about 40K. My idea is to move in, renovate and sell it. I have some ideas of what should already be functional in such a dwelling, but I also know there is a lot of knowledge in TT land. I am asking for any and all hints/information as to what I should look for in evaluating this property for purchase, improvement and resale.”

“How 'bout a little dis-information?”

“Just remember: Location, Location, Location......
You could have a turd in a toilet, but if it's settin on the red carpet at the Oscar's, it would be the whole focus of the event....”

“Disinformation? That's a given when you start "any" thread on here, lol.”

“hey nimblefoot, post some pics of it and let us evaluate it for ya.............”

“Chappy - great idea. I'll do it.”

“don't forget to take pics of the surroundings too, like views from the front porch, back door, etc.....”

“If ya want to have a demolition party that could make a great TT trip..........sledge hammers and beer!!”

“Gotta do it right, mARKo. If it's my house, it's chain saws and weed or nuttin', lol.”

“or a housefire, beer, songs "..burnin' down the house..."”

“We are a lot of help!!

I still have my chainsaw from my tree-jackin' days in Vermont.

What an old Vermonter said about chainsaws......
"Ya know the best thing about a chainsaw?"
I sez, "What"
Sez he, "Its when the dang thing won't start!"”

“Drainage, drainage, drainage. Water is probably the most destructive force on buildings. I would say about 90% of the damage on builds I’ve been in has been the result of poor drainage, whether it be along the foundation (ground) or roof (building envelope).

Most of the damage to this building was caused by water over time.
Walk around the exterior of the building and look for standing water near the foundation, there should be none. Look under porches and decks. Grades should slope away from the building especially at any inside corners. Look in the basement. Check the foundation for cracking. Look at the floor structure and look for wet or water stained joists and beams and flooring. Use a screwdriver to probe the structure and flooring as well. The structure should be solid. Check all exterior walls (inside and outside) for wet spots and water staining. Go into the attic space and do the same. The main problem areas will be at roof penetrations, such as chimneys, roof vents and skylights, and areas where the roof changes pitch or is bisected by another roof pitch, such as at dormers. If you find any water damage, try and figure out where the water is coming from. These will be the areas that you should repair first if you do buy the house.”

“Spoil sport!!”

“holy #&%!$! needs a bit of work, that one......”

“That's what 30 years of neglect can do to a building. It’s best to catch small problems early before they become big problems. A lot of the structrual failure happened over the past 10 years. If things we taken care of in the first 20, the building would be in a lot better shape and the east wing would still be there.
last edited: 3/07/06 8:14:47 AM”

“I used to sell real estate. I sucked at it, but here's my two cents. I don't know a thing about renovations, but here are my thoughts on resale.

The big question is how long has the house been on the market. If it's been on the market considerably longer than the average for the area, I would find out the reason if your intention is to resell the property. Are there major structural problems? Was somebody murdered in the house? Are there development plans for the adjacent area that would be detrimental to resale? Lousy schools? Busy road?

Basically, regardless of the improvements you make to the property, are there things about this property that you cannot fix that will significantly hinder the resale.”

“yeah, be sure to ask what that big red stain on the hardwood floor is................”

“LOL...Nimble...you got the right Idea...they aren't making more dirt. Keep buying real estate it works.
Heck Lumber in college that would have been the party house of the century.”

“LOL @ chappy. It's true though, some houses carry stigmas that make them hard to sell.”

“How old is the home? Are you trying to restore it, or update it, or both?

I'm looking forward to the pics!

BB”

“Nimblefoot, Birch asked me to tell you he'll drop you an email later to give you some help with the electrical and heating and cooling. Sometime tonight probably...”

“Heck Lumber in college that would have been the party house of the century.”
XL400236
9:18:01 AM
3/07/06
ignore this user

It's got everything a college party needs, rotted beams, a failing roof, and the first to second floor stairs laying in pieces on the basement floor.”

“Somebody murdered that house!”

“nimblefoot you gots mail.”

“Glad you told me on here, Birch, my computer sent it to the junk file (?) Thanks for the info; I really appreciate it. I signed the contract on the sale of my home today and also rented a small place in town to tide me over until I decide what I want to do with the renovation. Right now I'm waiting for a friend with some trades experience to get back to me so we can check out the house together. I'll take pictures then (unless he says it's a bust) and post them here. Thanks again...to everyone who's posted.”

“A lot depends on what the average house around it are going for and how much you want to put into it. I have one friend that does all the work himself (slower) and another that contracts every thing out. What you sell it for has to be on a par with the neighborhood. No matter what, it will be a learning experience.”

“Here is my money pit. I paid $66,000 for this so called fixer upper. It has every problem you can imagine. It is a water front camp that went about 4 years unoccupied. I bought it two years ago and have spend a ton of money and time working on it. It doesn't look like the picture much now. I have added 400 square feet to the front, a two car carport and extended the roof line to cover a new walkaround and new stairs. I still have to remodel the inside and build a new boat dock. The only reason I'm happy I did it was because it is only one house over from me. My cousin and his family have been living in it since Katrina distroyed their home. When complete I plan to rent it for about $1000 to $1200 per month. It will take me 10 years for this place to break even. Real estate does include many risks. I'd probably be better off with that money in the stock market. Definitely look before you leap.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/398408449/1398416189055326082TpvPYW”

“Nimblefoot, no prob. I made a few mistakes getting our place and have picked up stuff from other friends in the trades. I hope this goes as planned. I look forwrd to the picks.

Bateaux, the first pick doesnt do the place justice. I love the room that exits on what looks like a 2nd floor screen room, very nice. The place looks ginormous...”

“I did not authorize a picture of My house to be shown and I sleep in the back”

““or a housefire, beer, songs "..burnin' down the house..."”
chappy
7:44:44 AM
3/07/06

Oh, I can't stand David Byrne!!

(I'm a day late with that pun!)”

“It’s easiest to make money on these projects when you’re dealing with tract housing or most homes in the area are about the same size and style. Then you can look at what has sold and see what various amenities added to the price.

You don’t want to overimprove a property in an area that won’t pay for it. For example, granite countertops might not get you much more return than Formica in some neighborhoods. On the other hand, put Formica countertops in an upscale area that expects granite or equivalent, and you’ll just be wasting your money – potential buyers will look at that brand new kitchen as a gut rehab project.

Basically you’ll want to renovate to the level of the nicer homes in the area, but no more. If you can find a good Realtor with experience in the neighborhood, they could give you advice before you start.”

“All great advice. Unfortunately, there is now a contract on the property. I'll keep my eyes open in case it falls through and, of course, there's lots more fish in the sea. In the mean time, I just hauled my first load to my new (intermim) place and I have a truck load of boxes to fill and move. Thanks again.”

“Did you know a 5/8" x 4' x 12' sheet of drywall weighs 110.4 pounds? I do now.


What started out as a painting project in our new (old) home has turned into major renovation. When Jon started to prep for the paint he decided to remove the trim to strip it properly before painting it. He discoverd moisture problems around the windows. Hence, new windows in the dining room.

Then because of all the layers of paint, we decided to just get new trim. So he ripped all the old trim off.

Then a closet door was in a really inconvenient place. The back wall of the closet was in the hall, so I asked him if he could just switch the door opening from the living room side to the hall side. No problem. Until he did the work and found that the walls were plywood rather than studs and drywall, which by the way, abutted the bathroom. The previous owner had even run electric "through" the plywood wall into the bathroom. So guess what? He took all the walls out.

So now the bathroom is missing one wall, which got us to thinking how the bathroom was in a really bad location. If it was merely moved over into a small room adjacent to the existing bathroom, wouldn't that be great? Then we could have a larger living room and a very nice sized bathroom.

Jon takes everything out of the bathroom: built-in cabinets, tub, vanity, toilet. He discovers there is rotten wood underneath it all and that the exterior walls of the house have no insulation.

So this week Jon and his brother have removed all the plastered exterior walls. He is then insulating and drywalling everything back together again.

Last night we went and bought all the materials. With no one else to help him unload the truck, it was left to me to help him carry all the materials from the truck into the house. His brother, who will do all the taping and mudding, insisted that we buy 12' sheets rather than 8' and because of the way the window casings were constructed, we needed the wider 5/8" sheets. 13 of them to be exact.


I am so f-ing sore today. Painting really sucks.”

“When I used to work at the lumber yard delivering orders we always hated seeing that gawd forsaken 12' dry wall on the order. Even worse is the fire code stuff that is 5/8" thick.

It is very rewarding though working on the house, yes?”

“Yep, that's the stuff we got.


Rewarding? Maybe when it's all done. Right now, not so much. ;)”

“I'm digging up my septic tank as we speak. Yuck !”

“I dug mine up in the winter. Big, big, bonfire.”

“You're making big muscles Ruby. Watch out or Jon will expect you to be so helpful all the time. Those delicate ladies that let their husbands do all the work really have it figured out. ;)”

“Ah yes, the old "while your are there" syndrome. Responsible for small jobs becoming massive undertakings.

But in the end as long as you can manage the costs and maintain your sense of humor it will be quite rewarding in the end.

Full custom rocks.”

“I'm getting a new bathroom in my 1902 house. Best thing is the workers are backpackers I've met here and all I have to do is the shopping and painting when they're finished. I'm just not handy and have many other small projects that I can do well. If I tried to do the bath it would still look like a DIY project, just with nicer stuff. I'll focus on smaller jobs that I can actually do like the remaining painting and hanging pictures.

Oh but I did carry all the materials from the car into the house :-)

Picked up the supplies last Friday:
Floor tile - white classic hexagon
Tile tub surround - white subway tiles
Period style exhaust fan/light
In wall medicine cabinet
Night light wall switch

Still need to source - refinish the cast iron tub.”

“Everyone should post before and after pictures.”

“i love that kind of work, whish i could come help...every time i do that kind of project my wife immediately adds 40% to the cost estimate and 50% to the time estimate, LOL”

“LOL, this is what happened with our house. Started with a new garage door and gutters last fall... after some explorations my uncle found a slew of problems. So as we speak the entire exterior is getting ripped off sheathing and all. Getting a new layer of insulation in the process, a plus.”

“my boss is remodeling his bathroom, he found a skeleton in his wall...he thinks it is a opossum”

“Our kitchen is half way there with the hardest part behind us. Took the better part of 2 weeks to paint everything including the cabinets.

Picked up the first of 10 new cabinets we will be installing this weekend. I will be running new electric tonight for new dishwasher, then calling the plumber to route new intake/outtake line under the floor.

After all this, over to home depot to pick out new countertops.

After that new landscaping for the front yard, then finish the backyard.

Oh yea...Lowes sucks donkeyballs!”

“hey, there you are, i was beginning to wonder if you cut your fingers off with your table saw and couldn't type anymore”

“Don't have a table saw.

Been busy at work, not too much time to post.”

“thrifty, at least it wasn't a skeleton in his closet!





(ba-da-bing)”

“Yesterday the guys found a 1919 penny that had made its way under the baseboard.”

“Just ordered $1,400 worth of cabinets.

No more gear for me.”